US authorities and senior Israeli officials have held a meeting in Washington to discuss Iran and the latest sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic, a US official says.

“As a matter of fact, this afternoon we have a meeting with the senior Israeli team to talk about Iran and to talk about sanctions,” AFP reported Robert Einhorn, a US State Department adviser, as saying on Thursday.

The diplomat did not divulge further information on the nature of the talks or the identity of the Israeli team members due to attend the White House meeting.

However, he hinted at the intelligence work involved and said that the Israelis “are an important source of information. We cooperate on intelligence matters with lots of friendly countries around the world, but Israeli intelligence is particularly good.”

Meanwhile, White House officials have remained tightlipped about the theme of the talks and other administration officials only said it was a White House meeting.

This comes amid revelations that US President Barack Obama has stepped up efforts to push other countries to enforce “tough” sanctions against Iran and to enact unilateral embargoes on the Islamic Republic in a bid to divest the country from pursuing its civilian nuclear program.

A d v e r t i s e m e n t

The US has recently slapped unilateral economic sanctions on Iran and urged its Western allies to follow suit.

The West has depicted Iran’s nuclear enrichment program as a threat despite assurances of the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran’s nuclear program has no diversion from its peaceful path.